Pink and Gold Stars
by starstrukk234
Summary: But no matter what, she still couldn't fathom exactly how she got into this mess. So, she chose to blame Team Seven for making her feel this way. DeiSaku. Fluffish.


Pink and Gold Stars

!

Team 7. What did that mean to her, exactly? It meant a group of broken people placed under an equally broken sensei who was always reading a porn book when not in battle.

It was where pink, orange, and blue defied all artistic laws and came together to form an art piece greater than anything ever imaginable. Where they would all stand in front of one another with their lives on the line to keep them alive.

It was where three unlikely people with very different personalities, different out looks on life, different pains came to be the best friends that stood tall and confident next to each other, always holding the other two up.

They were climbing higher in the ranks when on missions, hardly ever failing one thanks to their determination to never lose to anyone or anything. They each used something as their will to get stronger – Sasuke to kill Itachi, Naruto to be known and respected as the Hokage and hopefully gaining their female teammate's attention, and Sakura so she would be useful to her team.

Naruto and Sasuke were growing, practically glowing in power during battles while Sakura stayed in the background, feeling like they would be better off without her. Ever since their first B-rank mission, she had felt she could do things better, give it her all. She wanted to be the one to protect her important people for once.

Her chance came in the second part of the Chunnin Exams, when she cut her hair to let go of her old self. Right then, when her eyes were ablaze with determination and the will to fight, she promised herself she would never go back to that Sakura. She would never let her hair grow out to remind her of how weak she used to be.

In the end, though, she still proved to be too weak to not need help. InoShikaCho had jumped in at the last second to save her and she was to sit back and watch _their _backs as they fought. She must have looked stupid in their eyes.

Another chance was given to her a few days later when the preliminaries came and she had to fight Ino, her old best friend. She felt disgusted with herself when Ino was going easy on her, the anger quickly turning into fierce will to fight with all she had, to push her body to show everyone watching above that she wasn't weak, that she wasn't some useless deadweight.

But alas, even in the end, it was Naruto who had rescued her. Not by jumping into the fight, but by screaming at her when Ino decided to make her say she wanted to forfeit the fight. And it was her Inner ego that dispelled Ino's jutsu, not the _actual _Sakura – though, she figured since she created her Inner, she deserved _some _credit for it. The battle had ended in a tie, yet Sakura felt delighted to know she could fight against her friend on an even plane.

When the last part of the Chunnin Exams came a month later, she felt more pathetic then ever after watching Naruto give it his all and beating _the _Hyuuga Neji. Against all odds, he still came out on top. _"I never go back on my word! That's my nindo, my ninja way!" _His words rang like a mantra in her head as the people in the stadium all around her applauded the unlikely winner. Why couldn't she give everything her all like that, dammit!?

And she still felt as though she kept getting in the way after that. When Suna had did the traitorous act of attacking Konoha in middle of Sasuke and Gaara's fight, she had been able to see through the genjutsu placed on the arena – with a small swell of pride at being the only gennin in the stands to be able to dispel it - and had formed a team with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Pakkun to get Sasuke back.

And they came at the right time, too. After leaving Shikamaru to deal with the Sound ninja, they let Pakkun take the lead. But of course, they had to stop and make Sakura feel just plain… weird for using the same shampoo as _a dog. _That still hadn't settled properly in her stomach, yet.

Gaara was just about to kill Sasuke if Naruto hadn't jumped in at the time and kicked him in the face. She had called out to Sasuke before she jumped next to him on the branch to see if he was okay. Her blood ran cold when she noticed the Cursed Mark had activated again. A short flashback of the Chunnin Exams after he woke up hit her like a ton of bricks.

She barely heard Naruto stutter her name and ask her a question. She yelled at him, annoyed that he wasn't paying attention to Sasuke, who couldn't even lift a finger. She looked to see the blonde pointing at something before nearly choking in shock. On a branch a few trees over sat a… _something _covered in what looked like sand. A few feet under them was the blonde who Shikamaru fought, holding her head in her hands and shaking. Sakura recognized her from the same team as the puppet master and the red head who had hurt Lee.

In a few quick movements she wasn't paying attention to, Gaara – Pakkun had explained to them who it was – got passed Naruto and headed toward Sasuke. She followed him with her eyes before grabbing a kunai and standing in between Sasuke and Gaara. She knew she wasn't able to do much, but she wasn't going to let him touch Sasuke if she could.

In retrospect, it probably hadn't been a good idea after he pinned her to the tree with his hand that was made of sand. She couldn't breathe and nightmares of everything and anything passed through her head, one after another. An image of her smiling parents before they were on the ground in a pile of blood. Young Ino giving her a ribbon then the same Ino with a kunai in her forehead. Sasuke and Naruto both smiling – or in Sasuke's position, smirking – at her before they both wound up dead in a great blob of sand.

She woke up after that, her eyes wild and wide, sweat dripping from her temple to her down her shirt. She saw Pakkun next to her, looking alarmed at her sudden movement. And for the first time, she noticed no sand was on her. Later, she had tried to thank Sasuke for saving her while Naruto was trying to get Kakashi to teach him how to do the chidori. He told her it was Naruto who had saved her, telling her he wouldn't give up until she was saved.

And Sakura smiled. She smiled because it proved that in some way, she was becoming useful to her team. And it was the most she ever wanted.

But it still didn't prove to be enough. Not too long after, Sasuke had left the village. She had begged Naruto to bring him back, telling him it was a once in lifetime question. Her heart broke even more when he told her he would, giving her a large smile and told her he knew how she felt. Watching him as he left, Sakura promised herself she would get stronger for them. She would never burden anybody else with her problems.

She supposed that was how she got here today. She had become a great medic-nin under Tsunade's tutelage and even inherited her monster strength. Naruto was probably more scared of her than ever, now. She had been done for just relaxing around with Naruto around the village after the bell test but Tsunade called them up for an urgent mission to Suna. They weren't given full details.

When they had arrived at the village in Sand – with Temari right behind them. They passed her along the way there – everyone immediately headed to the medical unit where Kankuro was being held at. He was lying on a bed, his breath coming out in heavy pants. She asked what was wrong with him and the only answer she had gotten was that he had been poisoned. Which hadn't helped much in any case.

She pulled out an elastic band and put her hair into a ponytail, studying over the statics on the clipboard someone handed her. There wasn't much to go by, so she immediately began a diagnostic of her own. The results weren't good, the poison having already being spread out through his veins and into his main arteries.

The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique had been hard to do with Kankuro moving around a lot, the pain causing him to sit up and holler. Temari and the rest of the medical team had to help hold him down until Sakura was able to remove it all. She watched when Temari collapsed onto the fall, holding her hand over her heart.

She had quickly explained to them it wasn't over yet, that she still needed to create an antidote or he could still be effected by the poison. One of the team medics had taken her to the only greenhouse there was in Suna. She was just thankful that everything she needed was there, no matter how limited.

After Kankuro had gotten the antidote – along with the two others she had kept – they got the information about Gaara's kidnapping from Baki. Naruto and Kakashi seemed to be the most angered and concerned. Neither would tell her what was so special about the Akatsuki, even when all four – with Chiyo-baasama along with them – headed off to the River Country.

They met with Team Gai at the hideout where the Akatsuki were supposed to be. And Sakura had finally gotten the grasp of what the people truly were. And she was ready to fight them, killing one even if she went with them to stop the pain for Naruto. No one was taking him away from her.

Of course, there was a giant ass boulder in the way so there really wasn't much to do at the moment. Until, of course, Gai and the rest of his team went to find all the other seals that matched the one on the giant boulder – the same boulder Sakura was to smash when the time came down to it.

They entered the cave by the "Button Hook Entry" as instructed by Kakashi. And what she saw made her gasp.

In front of her, a weird, large thing that looked to be made of wood with a long tail was eyeing Chiyo boredly and next to him sat a blonde, who was using Gaara as a couch cushion. She could feel the rage radiating from Naruto, even when he chased the man out and into the sunlight, Kakashi right behind him. And it left her with the thing with a tail and Chiyo.

But for most of the battle, she felt as though she was getting in the way since Chiyo had to keep protecting her. It wasn't until she had told her to run away that she decided to do something – which apparently meant becoming a puppet.

Everything was going well, even if there only had been a few seconds left before the antidote had failed on her. She had just began to start walking towards Chiyo, happy that they had won, when she _heard _the puppet man putting himself back together. And to her even greater horror, he pulled out one last trick; Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. Which was hard to fight since Chiyo only had ten and her.

During the entire fight, they had been able to make do with getting any scratches and cuts – a large amount of luck on their part. During the whole ordeal with chunks of puppets flying around – intact and in pieces – Chiyo had been able to give her the Lion-Headed Kannon. And with a burst of sheer strength just from wanting to finish the fight, she threw it at Sasori, watching it zoom past all the other puppets and head straight for Sasori.

And of course, that hadn't stopped the puppet either. Chiyo had gotten scratched by a poison dipped weapon and was kneeling over. What neither had expected, was for the redhead to come charging at her with a katana held tightly in his hand. Sakura knew exactly what she needed to so this time. She was tired of being useless. So she jumped in front of Chiyo and took the katana like a real woman.

But she hadn't expected it to hit a vital area. When she fell to the ground – having to put up with Sasori trying to take the katana out of her until he gave up -, sure that she was dead, she felt like she was in a cliché movie of some sort. Because now, the puppet master was running towards them with a hand used as a katana. Before he was able to, though, he was stopped by the puppets of his parents.

And then he pissed her off - she had been revived by some weird jutsu of Chiyo's and felt like she was being brought back from the dead – about not seeming to care what happened to the human race, not caring what a life was. And so she punched him. A good one in the face. But it barely did damage since he had been in a puppet body.

In the end, it had all worked out since he had given her some information about how they could find Sasuke after so long. And then he fell to the ground, both his parent's on either side of him. Chiyo said he could have seen through it. And it left her wondering why he hadn't dodged.

But they still survived. And Sasori was dead. And that all that mattered now, even more than the scattered remains of the puppets and broken rocks laying about. It was time to catch up to Naruto and Kakashi.

And even after all of that, she still hadn't been appreciated by her development. Which made her furious beyond belief. But no matter what, she still couldn't fathom exactly _how _she got into this mess. So, she chose to blame Team Seven for making her feel this way.

**#6#7#8**

She stood in the middle of the clearing, her face full of shock. The basket of groceries she had been carrying fell to the floor, an orange rolling behind a bush. Her throat felt like it attempting to suffocate her and her veins filled with an icy cold she could only describe as horror.

Right across from her, sitting casually on log with one leg pulled up near his chest while the other was in front of him. He had on his Akatsuki cloak and straw hat covering his face. But yet, she still knew who he was. There was only two reasons why the Akatsuki would be after her; she was friends with Naruto and had killed Sasori.

He glanced up at her when he heard the bag drop to the ground and watched as a red apple rolled across the grass and bounce off the top of his sandals. He calmly reached down to pick up, cocking his head to side and throwing it in the air before catching it. He grimaced when the hand on his palm opened and took a bite from it. He clicked his tongue when he felt the juice of it run down his hand and onto his cloak.

And then looked back up at the pinkette and chuckled at the absolute look of horror permanently etched into her face. A small, blue winged butterfly flew past his face at the same time.

He studied the girl, noticing how fragile she looked. And with the pink hair and green eyes, it would be hard to take her as a ninja strong enough to help take down one of the strongest Akatsuki members. A sudden flash of the destroyed cave resurfaced to his head and the same rush of adrenaline hit him again. She had been the one to demolish the cave and he wanted to watch her create the same piece of art work that his partner had been able to witness.

_Of course, _he thought after a moment, scowling at her still stiff body, _that is if she would snap out of it, yeah. _He sighed and shook his head, a wondrous smirk curling his lips. He reached up and pulled off the hat, laying it down next to him on the log and ruffling his hair, keeping his eyes on her.

Sakura blinked. And she blinked again before continuing to stare at him blankly. _He looks like Ino.. _The thought passed through her head quickly and when she registered it, she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. The male in front of her eyed Sakura wearily, watching and acting as if she was going to jump him and destroy him. She seemed to have forgotten his name, too.

He suddenly stood up and began walking toward her, making Sakura stand stiff, eyes narrowed, and fists clenched tightly, ready to throw them if need be. His blue eyes lit up in a spark of emotion that she couldn't identify well. But it looked like eagerness.

"You know," He drawled out, finally breaking the silence that had settled over them like a blanket, "I had always wanted to see the girl who had defeated – or, helped to defeat – Sasori. Especially since she had pink hair. I had thought that someone as weak looking as you," She snarled at him, her green eyes going ablaze with an inner fire that made his toes curl in anticipation, "would have lost to someone like Sasori. But apparently I had been wrong."

His eyes were wide now, the pupil contracted until you could barely see them. "And you were the one who had destroyed the cave. Show me." He breathed. Sakura blanched at the request, staring at him as if he had lost his mind. **Probably did. Kami knows what goes on the Akatsuki. **Her Inner whispered to her, sounding very amused and confused at the same time.

"I'm sorry, what?" He gave her an annoyed look, crossing his arms and stepping on the bread that happened to be under his feet from when she dropped the bag.

"I asked you – very politely, might I add – to show me your technique, yeah. That can't be so hard, now can it?" Her face fell into a scowl as she stared at him. Why the hell should she show him - an _Akatsuki _member - her technique? And how does demanding someone to show a person something _polite?! _Naruto had more manners than this guy!

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and glared. "Why should I show you anything? I'm not obliged by some hidden law to do anything you demand."

The blonde man looked very annoyed at this point before an idea seemed to pop in his by the way he smiled. He thrust his hands into the clay pouches wrapped around his hips and pulled out a blob of clay and making it into a bird. Sakura blinked at the creature in his palm and gasped when it suddenly flew straight at her. She only had a few seconds to react before it exploded.

Deidara watched her as she perched herself on the trees in front of him and looked at him, bright, apple green orbs watching him. He smirked at her. "Come one, show me, yeah. Or is it that you can't do the technique anymore?" He was taunting her now. Trying to get her to give him a show.

And a show she would give.

Immediately, she sent chakra to her feet and fists at the same time, jumping from the branch and into the air above him. She distantly wished she had brought her headband to make the picture seem more cool with the sun glinting off the metal. _Too late for that. _

She watched how his lone blue eye widened right when her fist was near him. The second her fist was about to land on his face, he disappeared. With all the chakra she had packed into the punch, it was no shock to her that the forest floor crumbled into dust in a five-foot radius. She looked around for any sign of the male and found him by the log he had been sitting on earlier, eyeing the ground in an awed sort of appraisal.

And then he was smiling. It was a small, soft smile – with a spark on crazy -, but a smile nonetheless. She felt the urge to fidget and just get away, to tell the Hokage that there was an Akatsuki member running out loose around the village. But of course, he may just blow her up given the chance. He already had enough reason to, in the first place.

"You're amazing, yeah." He breathed, stepping off the log and walking towards her, step by step. Sakura was backing into a tree step by step, wanting to keep a comfortable distance between them. "You can create beautiful things." He was stilling stalking towards her slowly and Sakura had to keep looking over her shoulder a few times to make sure she wasn't going to trip over any loose boulders she created.

Inside her mind, Sakura was trying to make sense of what exactly this guy was saying. _Amazing. Beautiful. _Just because she had destroyed the ground? This guy was most definitely crazy, a borderline lunatic, for Pete's sake!

Her back hit something ruff, her fingers skimming over the patterns engraved in the bark. A bad feeling bubble in the pit of her stomach when she realized she wouldn't be able move away.

Deidara stopped a few feet in front of her, eyes calculating her again before studying the damage around the area, flinching at the thought of what would have happened had he not moved in time. Now, he really wished he had been the one to fight this girl and not Sasori.

She was a masterpiece, no doubt. And she would make wonderful , beautiful art. He gave her another one of smiles, this one being more flirty than anything, and placed his palm next to her head while leaning on it. "You know," He began in his deep voice, smirk widening when a small dust of rosy pink spread across both cheeks and over her nose, "I could teach you a few things about art, yeah. Maybe we can make something great together."

Sakura's face turned a bright red, taking the innocent suggestion as a hidden innuendo. She opened her mouth before clamping it shut, eyes wide. "Y-You pervert! Why would I do something like that!?"

He stared at her for a second, looking very lost before it registered in his mind what she was talking about. His face gave a look of amusement, his lip twitching upward and a chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. Sakura glared at him, her eyes furious. "What's so funny?" She snarled.

He brought a hand up and lightly flicked her forehead. She gave a small yelp and placed her hand on the spot and looked as though she about to scream obscenities at him. "I wasn't talking about _that_, yeah. I was talking about destruction." Using the hand that hasn't holding him up on the tree, he gestured out to the forest. "You cause amazing works of art, and together, we could make this hideous world a beautiful one." The pinkette felt her face flush at how stupid she must have seemed at that moment. "But, if you _want _to, I don't mind having-"

"Shut up!" She quickly intervened, slapping away the hand that was trailing up much too closely to her chest than she deemed comfortable. He chuckled again and leaned closer to her.

"What's wrong, girly? Shy?" His forehead was almost touching hers and Sakura tried to sink further into the bark. She glared up at him.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't sleep with every guy I meet in the forest!" She snapped at him, puffing out her cheeks with air before huffing it all out.

"Obviously. You probably haven't even had your first kiss, yet." He shook his head, and, as if reading her mind, continued. "You blush so easily. All I have to do is smirk and your cheeks get rosy, yeah." He brushes the knuckles of his right hand over her cheek bones and gave her a smug look when her face turned a light red color. "See?"

"You can't make that assumption! You barely even know me!"

"Ah, but one's eyes are a window to their soul, girly." He smiled again when she closed her mouth, no comeback to say. She settled on the usual blush and glare.

After a few seconds of silence, Deidara leaned in closer, lips inches from her's. "So what do you say? Wanna work under my wing as an artist, yeah?" He was staring at her, blue eyes relaxed and determined, ready to go into a mantra if she declined. And that was something she didn't want.

She sighed, the soft puff of air drifting gently onto his lips. She eyed him with slight curiosity. "What's.. your name?" She asked hesitantly.

The blonde grinned, two rows of white perfect teeth shinning in the dim light as the sun settled into the tree line, a few stars popping out. "Deidara, yeah." His lips were just brushing her's now. "And yours?"

She gave him a small smile, one that looked almost shy. "My name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura." And he had been nice enough to not say how cliché it was. Though she saw it pass in his eyes.

Oh yeah. She was so blaming Team Seven for this mess. Because without them, she wouldn't have found the will to get stronger and use the same will to defeat Sasori. And apparently to become an artist. But no matter. Her draw skills could use a little help.

**#6#7#8**

**I feel like I so failed at this… Gosh, I can't believe I'm even posting this. Anyway, I have eight more one-shots to finish. And you guys can give me some prompts of you want. And yes, there was a reason for the long-ass beginning. It was to reflect how Team Seven "got her into the mess." I don't know. Makes sense in my mind. **

**~Reviews would be loved. And please review? Those make me happy. And I really need to be happy. I want to break something . **


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